System and method for processing messages using a common interface platform supporting multiple pluggable data formats in a service-oriented pipeline architecture

ABSTRACT

A computer-implemented system and method for processing messages using a common interface platform supporting multiple pluggable data formats in a service-oriented pipeline architecture is disclosed. The method in an example embodiment includes deserializing or serializing a request/response message using a pluggable serializer/deserializer mechanism and a corresponding pluggable data format parser. An example embodiment uses a common model for serialization/deserialization regardless of the data format, resulting in a consistent and efficient mechanism.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material that is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever. The following notice applies to the software and data as described below and in the drawings that form a part of this document: Copyright 2006-2008, eBay Inc., All Rights Reserved.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

This disclosure relates to methods and systems supporting computing and data processing systems. More particularly, the disclosure relates to processing messages using a common interface platform supporting multiple pluggable data formats {e.g Extensible Markup Language (XML), JavaScript Object Notation (JSON), Name-Value Pairing (NV), binary, etc.} in a service-oriented pipeline architecture.

2. Related Art

In Services Oriented Architecture (SOA), there are typically many communicating reusable services that are deployed in several machines. In large-scale enterprises, like EBAY®, ETRADE.COM®, or GOOGLE® for example, there could be thousands of different services deployed in thousands of machines. It is most common and efficient for these services to communicate with each other. Further, external access is also typically provided for some of these services. In communicating with each other, various different types of communication protocols may be used for efficiently and optimization reasons. Communication between service providers and service consumers can be accomplished using some pre-defined protocol. In the web services case, this protocol can be the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP). SOAP is a protocol for exchanging Extensible Mark-up Language (XML)-based messages over computer networks, normally using Hypertext Transport Protocol (HTTP/HTTPS). SOAP often forms the foundation layer of the web services protocol stack providing a basic messaging framework upon which abstract layers can be built. There are several different types of messaging patterns in SOAP; but, by far the most common is the Remote Procedure Call (RPC) pattern, in which one network node (the client) sends a request message to another node (the server) and the server immediately sends a response message to the client.

Although SOAP can provide a communication or messaging protocol that can be used in some SOA implementations, sometimes there is a need for communicating using other protocols. For example, in some cases it may be beneficial or more efficient to use a proprietary protocol or some messaging protocol other than SOAP. When various different protocols are used, the SOA must either support all protocols and thereby become complex and inefficient, or the SOA is compatibility-restricted to operation only with one protocol. SOA's that support multiple protocols typically have different and independent message processing models. For example, an XML message received via SOAP in a conventional multi-protocol SOA is processed differently and independently from the processing performed on an XML message received via a protocol other than SOAP. Thus, the conventional multi-protocol SOA has some duplicated functionality and inefficiencies in the model and resource utilization.

U.S. Patent Application No. 2005/0223109 describes a system wherein services such as product services, real-time services, and common services are deployed in a services oriented architecture. These services may, for example, be deployed for use in a variety of enterprise data integration functions.

U.S. Patent Application No. 2007/0011126 describes a service-oriented architecture (SOA) and accompanying method. In one embodiment, the SOA includes one or more service requesters coupled to one or more service providers via a bus. The bus includes runtime-binding functionality to facilitate interaction between the one or more service requesters and the one or more service providers. A registry, which stores information pertaining to a service provided by the one or more service providers, communicates with one or more service providers and/or requesters and the bus. In a more specific embodiment, bus includes a Service-Integration Bus (SIB) that includes a Service-Factory (SF) module for facilitating implementing the runtime binding functionality and for selectively invoking the service. Functionality of the SOA is strategically organized into various tiers and layers, including a requester tier, a provider tier, a business-process services tier, an infrastructure-services tier, an SIB layer, a persistence layer, and so on.

U.S. Patent Application No. 2005/0267947 describes a system including a service bus, which can act as an intermediary between a client and a service. Messages to the service bus arrive on a transport and can be processed to determine a destination to route and/or publish the message to, a transformation to perform on the message, and/or security processing. The message is then sent out on a transport bound for a service or another service bus. A response to the message can follow an inverse path through the service bus.

Typically services support invocation through multiple different data formats (e.g XML, JSON, NV, Binary XML etc.), just like services that support invocation through multiple protocols. However, conventional systems do not offer a serialization/de-serialization capability that converts these different data formats into respective java objects compatible with the service with which a consumer is working. Conventional systems typically provide different application programming interfaces (APIs) or models for each data format. This approach not only is inefficient, but also makes it difficult to seamlessly add a new data format, without changing any existing services, consumers, or APIs.

Thus, a computer-implemented system and method for processing messages using a common interface platform supporting multiple pluggable data formats in a service-oriented pipeline architecture, are needed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments illustrated by way of example and not limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example embodiment of an overall message processing system for services with in Application Server.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example embodiment of a server-side runtime environment or Service Provider Framework (SPF), using pluggable protocol processors

FIG. 3 illustrates an example embodiment of a client-side runtime environment or Service Invocation Framework (SIF), again using pluggable protocol processors

FIG. 4 illustrates a processing flow diagram for an example embodiment.

FIG. 5 shows a diagrammatic representation of a machine in the form of a computer system within which a set of instructions, for causing the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, may be executed, according to an example embodiment.

FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate an example embodiment of a computer-implemented system for processing messages using pluggable de/serializers and data format parsers in a service-oriented pipeline architecture.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of some example embodiments. It will be evident, however, to one of ordinary skill in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details.

As described further below, according to various example embodiments of the disclosed subject matter described and claimed herein, there is provided a computer-implemented system and method for processing messages using a common interface platform supporting multiple pluggable data formats in a service-oriented pipeline architecture. Various embodiments are described below in connection with the figures provided herein.

In particular, as depicted in the various figures included herewith, the SOA message processing model is independent of a specific protocol, as protocol-specific processing is made pluggable (e.g. processing modules can be added or removed without requiring a significant level of re-design or re-configuration). As such, duplicated functionality and inefficiencies in the SOA model and resource utilization can be avoided. Additionally, new protocols can be added to the SOA seamlessly without having to change the SOA processing model.

Referring to FIG. 1, a diagram illustrates an example embodiment of a computer-implemented system for processing messages using pluggable protocol processors in a service-oriented pipeline architecture. In the example application server system 100 illustrated, synchronous or asynchronous messages are received and sent from system 100 either via a staged event-driven architecture (SEDA) interface 102 or a servlet interface 104 for transferring synchronous data streams. The staged event-driven architecture (SEDA) interface 102 decomposes a complex, event-driven software application into a set of stages connected by queues. This design avoids the high overhead associated with thread-based concurrency models, and decouples event and thread scheduling from application logic. By performing admission control on each event queue, the service can be well-conditioned to load, preventing resources from being overcommitted when demand exceeds capacity. SEDA employs dynamic control to automatically tune runtime parameters (such as the scheduling parameters of each stage) as well as to manage load, for example, by performing adaptive load shedding. Decomposing services into a set of stages also enables modularity and code reuse, as well as the development of debugging tools for complex event-driven applications. System 100 can also use a Quality of Service (QoS) module 106 to provide various levels of priority for the incoming message streams. Messages with higher levels of priority can be dispatched more quickly into the Service Provider Framework (SPF) 110 described in more detail below.

A Servlet is an object that receives a request and generates a response based on that request. A Servlet container is a specialized web server that supports Servlet execution. The Servlet container combines the basic functionality of a web server with certain Java/Servlet specific optimizations and extensions, such as an integrated Java runtime environment, and the ability to automatically translate specific Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) into Servlet requests. Individual Servlets are registered with a Servlet container, providing the container with information about what functionality they provide, and what URL or other resource locator they will use to identify themselves. The Servlet container is then able to initialize the Servlet as necessary and deliver requests to the Servlet as they arrive. Many containers have the ability to dynamically add and remove Servlets from the system, allowing new Servlets to quickly be deployed or removed without affecting other Servlets running from the same container. Servlet containers are also referred to as web containers or web engines. Servlet interface 104 can be implemented as a servlet container in a particular embodiment. Servlet interface 104 can process incoming synchronous messages and dispatch the processed messages into the Service Provider Framework (SPF) 110 described in more detail below. SPF 110 can receive messages, typically a service request, and after processing the messages in the manner described below, SPF 110 may dispatch the messages to an appropriate service 111. Prior to being dispatched to services 111, the incoming message can be initially processed by a number of modules in a pipelined architecture, each module performing a particular operation on the received message. These processing modules can include a G11N processing module 112. The term “G11N” as used herein refers to the operations of internationalization and localization. In computing, internationalization and localization (also spelled internationalisation and localisation) are means of adapting computer software for non-native environments, especially other nations and cultures. Internationalization is the conventional process of designing a software application so that it can be adapted to various languages and regions without engineering changes. Localization is the conventional process of adapting software for a specific region or language by adding locale-specific components and translating text. Due to their length, the terms are frequently abbreviated to G11N as shown in FIGS. 1-3. Another processing module of SPF 110 can be logging module 114. Logging module 114 is used to record various items of information related to the received message for tracking, debugging, and/or archiving purposes. Another processing module of SPF 110 can be rate limiting module 116. Rate limiting module 116 is used to adjust the flow of messages in a stream to a pre-defined rate limit or threshold. Application level caching module 122 of SPF 110 provides an ability to temporarily store application level information that may be accessed by the application more than once. Application level caching module 122 can provide a higher level of efficiency because the cached information does not need to be re-acquired through a network access. Security module 120 can be provided in SPF 110 to enforce a pre-defined security policy with respect to authentication and authorization. Finally, monitoring module 118 can be provided in SPF 110 to enable monitoring of the service invocation, consumption, status and subsequently to enable alerting conditions and monitoring of compliance with service level agreements (SLA's). All these are examples of some of the “handlers” in the pipeline that control the processing of the message. There are a number of other system level handlers. Service implementers can plug in their own service-specific handlers as needed. The list and order of handlers in the pipeline can be configured and customized as necessary, thus providing a true pluggable pipeline architecture with improved flexibility.

Messages received by system 100 can be configured for a variety of communication protocols. Although many SOA implementations use SOAP as a communications protocol, particular embodiments of system 100 can be used with a communication or messaging protocol that is either a proprietary protocol or some other standard messaging protocol other than SOAP. Most communication protocols for use with SOA implementations, whether SOAP or another protocol, typically use a common basic messaging structure. In general, this messaging structure consists of a message header followed by a message payload or message body. In most cases, the message header contains most of the protocol-specific data. The message payload typically contains data content that is generally common (or can be made common) for all supported communication protocols. For this reason, particular embodiments can isolate protocol-specific message processing into a set of relatively compact protocol-specific message processors—one for each protocol supported by system 100. As will be described in more detail below, the protocol-specific message processors can be ‘plugged in’ or added to the system 100 architecture without a significant level of re-design or re-configuration of the system. Portions of the incoming message that are common to all supported protocols can be efficiently processed in a message pipeline of SPF 110 as described below. Because the portions of the incoming message processed by the message pipeline of SPF 110 are protocol-agnostic (i.e. not protocol specific), the insertion of a new or different protocol-specific message processor does not affect (and therefore does not require modification to) the message pipeline of SPF 110. In this manner, the embodiments described herein can support a variety of communication protocols in an SOA implementation without causing system re-designs or redundancies. These pluggable protocol processors can be registered in a configuration file. In this manner, various pluggable protocol processors can be conveniently added (i.e. plugged into) or removed from the message pipeline of SPF 110 without significant effort.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a particular example embodiment of a server-side runtime environment or Service Provider Framework (SPF) 200 is illustrated. SPF 200 can receive incoming messages from a requester server via a framework servlet 205. The incoming messages can be a server request for a service supported by the SOA. Messages received by SPF 200 can be configured for a variety of different communication protocols. Framework servlet 205 can handle the receipt, and queuing of the incoming messages, including initialization of appropriate modules. After initial processing, the framework servlet 205 forwards the incoming message to a server message processor 207.

Server Message Processor (SMP) 207 is the main driver for processing the incoming message. At its initialization time, SMP 207 reads all the service configuration files 209 and initializes the appropriate modules, service implementation instances, and any special handlers, etc. Handlers are processing logic components that are plugged into the pipeline in the manner described above. The handlers act on the message, typically just the header portion of the message. Examples of these handlers include security, logging, etc. as shown in FIG. 1 and described above. Service configuration files 209, in a particular example embodiment, are hierarchical and are consist of three levels—Global, group, and instance specific. The global configuration file is used to configure things that are common to all services in the deployed environment. The group level configuration file is used to configure things that are common to a group of services (e.g., a specific domain like Search or Trading etc.). The Instance specific configuration file is used to configure things that are specific only to a particular service. The configuration system of SMP 207 allows configuration of much of the functionality provided by system 200. For example, handlers, desired data formats, and protocol processors can all be configured by SMP 207. The SMP 207 manages the processing of the received message through several different, but symmetric processing steps. These processing steps include: processing a request message using the In Pipeline 212, dispatching the processed request message through a request dispatcher 216, processing a response message using the Out Pipeline 214, and dispatching the processed response message through a response dispatcher 218. At each of these steps, the appropriate protocol processor that matches (e.g. is compatible with) the protocol of the incoming message, is also invoked. If any errors occur at any state of processing, the processing flow is intercepted by the Server Message Processor (SMP) 207 and an appropriate error message is returned. The error message can be sent through the Out Pipeline 214 and response dispatcher 218. Thus, SMP 207 is the main driver for the message processing performed in system 200.

As part of the processing operations performed by the server message processor 207, the message header of the incoming message can be decoded to determine the particular protocol for which the incoming message is coded (or compatible with). Once the specific protocol corresponding to the incoming message is determined, a corresponding one of the protocol-specific-processors 210 can be activated to operate upon the header of the incoming message of the same or compatible protocol type. As mentioned above, the specific protocol processor 210 is invoked at each of the processing steps performed by the SMP 207. The specific protocol processor 210 processes the protocol-specific headers (e.g. SOAP envelope, in the case of SOAP) and a context is maintained to reflect the processed information. This context is also made available to the pipeline 212, in case any handler wants to look at the context. Once the specific protocol processor 210 returns, then the message is passed through the input/request pipeline 212. The protocol-agnostic portion of the incoming message (e.g. message payload and transport headers) is run through the input pipeline 212 for staged processing. In a particular embodiment, the pipeline 212 can include several stages. For example, a first stage of pipeline 212 can be a logging stage 225 for handling logging of the incoming message. Logging stage 225 can be used to generate a record for the received message. A second stage of pipeline 212 can be an authentication stage 226 for handling authentication operations on the incoming message. Various types and degrees of message authentication can be implemented at this stage. A third stage of pipeline 212 can be a G11N stage 227 for handling the operations of internationalization and localization on the incoming message. As described above, internationalization and localization operations can be used to regionalize a message so appropriate results are produced. Other stages can be added to pipeline 212 to enable the insertion of one or more pluggable processors for handling a variety of data formats and for decoding a message payload coded in a particular data format. It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading this disclosure that other stages can similarly be added to pipeline 212 in which other operations 228 could similarly be performed on the protocol-agnostic portions of the incoming message. Further, because of the pipeline architecture of the described embodiment, various stages of the pipeline can be performed in parallel thereby increasing efficiency of the system 100.

Once the protocol-agnostic portion of the incoming message is processed by each of the stages of pipeline 212, the message can be dispatched to a corresponding service implementation module 220 via a request dispatcher 216. At the point where the incoming message is passed to the request dispatcher 216, de-serialization of the message payload is performed, if de-serialization has not already been performed by one of the stages in pipeline 212. It is beneficial to push de-serialization of the message payload to the later stages of processing; because, de-serialization can be a time-consuming and expensive process. The service implementation module 220 can then perform the requested service based on the service request.

As the service implementation module 220 generates output in response to the request for service, server message processor 207 can perform post-processing on the protocol-agnostic portion of the output data using an output pipeline 214. In a manner similar to input pipeline 212, output pipeline 214 can be divided into stages, each stage performing an operation on the protocol-agnostic portion of the output data. Once the protocol-agnostic portion of the output data is processed by each of the stages of pipeline 214, the protocol-specific portion of the output data is processed by the one of the protocol-specific processors 210. At this point, the output message, which can either be an output data message generated in response to the service request or an error message, can be dispatched to a transport module 222 via the response dispatcher 218. Transport module 222 can deliver the output message to a service requester via a selected transport medium/protocol. In the case of a synchronous communication, the transport module may simply return to the SMP 207, which in turn returns the response to the servlet container.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a particular example embodiment of a client-side runtime environment or Service Invocation Framework (SIF) 300 is illustrated. SIF 300 can receive incoming messages from a client application requester 305 via an SIF application programming interface (API) 306 or through a pre-generated proxy. The incoming messages can be a client request for a service supported by the SOA. A client message processor 307 receives the incoming message either way.

The Client Message Processor (CMP) 307, in a particular example embodiment, is the main driver for processing the outgoing request message and for handling the received response. This is very much equivalent to the SMP 207 on the server side. The CMP 307 performs processing operations similar to the SMP 207; however, the CMP 307 operates on the client side. These processing operations, as described above, include running the request message through the request pipeline (Out pipeline 312), request dispatcher 316, response pipeline (In pipeline 314) and response dispatcher 318. Similar to the processing performed on the server side, an appropriate protocol-specific processor 310 is also invoked at each of these processing steps to formulate a request message that contains the selected protocol-specific envelope. Similarly, an appropriate protocol-specific processor 310 is also invoked for processing of the protocol-specific envelope in the response message as well. Again, similar to the server side, the client side also uses a hierarchy of configuration files, such as global, group and instance-specific configurations. As described above, the CMP 307 is responsible for managing these configurations.

As part of the processing operations performed by the client message processor 307, the message header of the outgoing message needs to be encoded to reflect the selected protocol. To do this, a corresponding one of the protocol-specific message processors 310 is activated to encode the header of the outgoing message of the same or compatible protocol type. Once the specific protocol processor 310 returns, the outgoing message is run through the request pipeline (Out pipeline 312) for staged processing of the protocol-agnostic portion of the message. In a particular embodiment, the pipeline 312 can include several stages. For example, a first stage of pipeline 312 can be a logging stage 325 for handling logging of the incoming message. Logging stage 325 can be used to generate a record for the received message. A second stage of pipeline 312 can be an authentication stage 326 for inserting the security credentials, authentication coding, and the like. As many stages can be added to pipeline 312 as necessary to enable customization of message processing. In fact, every portion of processing logic can be added as a stage (also referred to as a Handler) in the pipeline 312. Further, because of the pipeline architecture of the described embodiment, various stages of the pipeline can be performed in parallel thereby increasing efficiency of the system 100.

Once the protocol-agnostic portion of the outgoing message is processed by each of the stages of pipeline 312, the request message is dispatched to a transport factory module 320 via a request dispatcher 316. The request dispatcher 316 serializes the outgoing message into the wire data format that is selected/configured, before handing off the message to the transport factory module 320. The transport factory module 320 delegates transport of the message via one of a plurality of pluggable transport processors 322. A particular embodiment can offer support for a plurality of transport modes and protocols, such as a local transport (useful when the client and server are deployed in the same Java Virtual Machine—JVM), Hypertext Transport Protocol (HTTP), Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), and the like. The transport factory module 320 sends the request message to the server via the respective one of the pluggable transport processors 322. The particular pluggable transport processor 322 chosen for transport of the request message can be configured by the CMP 307. It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading this disclosure that other specific transport modes/protocols can similarly be added to transport factory 320 to enable transport of the processed request message in a variety of ways.

As the service implementation (on the server side) generates output in response to the request for service, the transport factory module 320 receives this response and passes control to the client message processor 307. Client message processor then invokes the appropriate protocol-specific processor 310 for processing the protocol-specific portion of the response message. The CMP 307 then runs the response message through the response pipeline (In pipeline) 314. In a manner similar to request pipeline 312, response pipeline 314 is also divided into stages, each stage performing an operation on the protocol-agnostic portion of the incoming response data. At this point, the incoming response message, which can be output data in response to a service request, is dispatched to a response dispatcher 318. Additionally, the client message processor 307 can send a response to the client application requester 305 via the SIF API 306.

FIG. 4 illustrates a processing flow diagram for an example embodiment. In the embodiment 510 shown, an apparatus for processing messages using pluggable protocol processors in a service-oriented pipeline architecture performs the processing operations of: receiving a message having a protocol-specific portion and a protocol-agnostic portion (processing block 515); determining a protocol compatible with the received message (processing block 520); activating one of a plurality of pluggable protocol processors compatible with the received message (processing block 525); processing the protocol-specific portion of the received message using the activated pluggable protocol processor (processing block 530); and processing the protocol-agnostic portion of the received message using a message processing pipeline, the message processing pipeline including a plurality of stages for processing the protocol-agnostic portion of the received message (processing block 535).

An apparatus of an example embodiment for processing messages using pluggable protocol processors in a service-oriented pipeline architecture includes: a message processor to receive a message having a protocol-specific portion and a protocol-agnostic portion, the message processor to determine a protocol compatible with the received message; a plurality of pluggable protocol processors coupled to the message processor, at least one of the plurality of pluggable protocol processors being compatible with the received message, the pluggable protocol processor being compatible with the received message being operable to process the protocol-specific portion of the received message; and a message processing pipeline to process the protocol-agnostic portion of the received message, the message processing pipeline including a plurality of stages for processing the protocol-agnostic portion of the received message. A similar example apparatus performs similar processing operations on the client (i.e., request sending side) side of the framework.

A Common Interface Platform Supporting Multiple Serializers/Deserializers As described further below, according to various example embodiments of the disclosed subject matter described and claimed herein, there is provided a computer-implemented system and method for processing messages using a common interface platform supporting multiple pluggable data formats in a service-oriented pipeline architecture. Various embodiments are described below in connection with the FIGS. 6 and 7.

In particular, as depicted in FIGS. 6 and 7, the SOA message processing model is independent of a specific message payload data serialization, format, or structure, as a common interface platform can generalize the serialization-specific and data format-specific processing performed for a particular message. In this manner, the serialization-specific and data format-specific processing performed behind the common interface platform can be made pluggable (e.g. processing modules for additional types of serializers/de-serializers and/or data format parsers can be added or removed without requiring a significant level of re-design or re-configuration). As such, duplicated functionality and inefficiencies in the SOA model and resource utilization can be avoided. Additionally, new deserializers and/or data format parsers can be added to the SOA infrastructure seamlessly without having to change the SOA processing model.

Referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, diagrams illustrate an example embodiment of a computer-implemented system for processing messages using pluggable de/serializers and data format parsers in a service-oriented pipeline architecture. In the example application system 600 illustrated in FIG. 6, requests for message serialization or deserialization can be performed on the request or response message 601 as invoked from pipeline handlers 312 and 314 or request/response dispatchers 316 and 318 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. Based on the request received, the message serialization/deserialization logic 601 can obtain one or more of the pluggable serializers or deserializers 603 via a de/serialization factory 602, for the corresponding data format. The message serialization/deserialization logic 601 can then initiate serialization or deserialization, as the case may be, on the above-obtained serializer/deserializer 603. The pluggable serializer or deserializer 603 can then invoke the corresponding pluggable data format parser 604. The data format parsers 604 are implemented, in one embodiment, using the standard Stax (Streaming API-Application programming interface for XML-Extensible Markup Language) parser interfaces. Once initiated, the particular pluggable serializer/deserializers 603 and data format parser 604 selected to service the de/serialization request received by the de/serialization processor 601 operates on the input message. The resulting serialized or deserialized message, having been parsed by an appropriate data format parser 604, can be cached by the de/serialization processor 601. The de/serialization processor 601 can then respond to the de/serialization request with a pointer to the cached processed message.

In a particular embodiment, Java Architecture for XML Binding (JAXB) can be used as the underlying uniform model in the pluggable serializer/deserializer framework 600 and can allow plugging in different Stax parsers (e.g. XML stream readers and writers) for different data formats (JSON, NV-Name Value, Binary, XML, etc.). JAXB allows Java developers to map Java classes to XML representations. JSON is short for JavaScript Object Notation, which is a lightweight computer data interchange format. Basically to JAXB, it appears that the data is in XML; but in fact, the data could be in any format. The particular data format details are hidden in the pluggable parser. The serialization of the outgoing response in SPF (e.g. see FIG. 2) and serialization of the outgoing request in SIF (e.g. see FIG. 3) can be triggered by calling on the Message (Request or Response) processor for input/output parameters. Similarly, the deserialization of the incoming request in SPF (e.g. see FIG. 2) and deserialization of the incoming response in SIF (e.g. see FIG. 3) can be triggered by calling on the Message (Request or Response) processor for input/output parameters. This can be called from either a handler in the pipeline or the dispatcher. Either way, the (de)serialized objects can be cached by the de/serialization processor 601. Basically, lazy on-demand serialization/deserialization can be performed using the described embodiments.

Referring now to FIG. 7, an event sequence diagram illustrates the operation of the pluggable serializer/deserializer framework 600 of a particular embodiment. In an initial operation 621, de/serialization processor 601 receives a request for message serialization or deserialization as sent from pipeline handlers 312 and 314 or request/response dispatchers 316 and 318 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. At operation 622, de/serialization processor 601 can access the de/serialization factory 602 to obtain access to the appropriate pluggable de/serializer 603 corresponding to the message. At operation 623, de/serialization processor 601 can initiate one or more of the pluggable serializers or deserializers 603 via the de/serialization factory 602. At operation 624, the initiated pluggable de/serializer 603 can de/serialize the message corresponding to the request and create a JAXB context appropriate for the message. The pluggable de/serializer 603 can also create and call a JAXB data un-marshaller to further process the message. At step 625, the JAXB un-marshaller or the pluggable de/serializer 603 can initiate one or more of the pluggable data format parsers 604 to parse the data format for the message. Once the message has been parsed and de/serialized, the pluggable de/serializer 603 can return the processed message to the de/serialization processor 601 in operation 626. The de/serialization processor 601 can cache the processed message. Subsequently, at operation 627, the de/serialization processor 601 can respond to the initial request by returning the de/serialized and parsed message to the requesting pipeline handlers 312 and 314 or request/response dispatchers 316 and 318.

In a particular embodiment, a method comprises: receiving a request to serialize or deserialize a message having a data format-specific requirements; determining which of a plurality of serializers/deserializers are compatible with the received message; initiating one of the plurality of serializers/deserializers compatible with the received message; and serializing or deserializing the message into a desired wire format or java object using a common interface regardless of the data format of the received message. Another embodiment also includes: determining which of a plurality of pluggable data format parsers are compatible with the received message; initiating one of the plurality of pluggable data format parsers compatible with the received message; and parsing the data format of the received message regardless of the data format of the received message

FIG. 5 shows a diagrammatic representation of a machine in the example form of a computer system 700 within which a set of instructions, for causing the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, may be executed. In alternative embodiments, the machine operates as a standalone device or may be connected (e.g., networked) to other machines. In a networked deployment, the machine may operate in the capacity of a server or a client machine in client-server network environment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. The machine may be a server computer, a client computer, a personal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a set-top box (STB), a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a cellular telephone, a web appliance, a network router, switch or bridge, or any machine capable of executing a set of instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine. Further, while a single machine is illustrated, the term “machine” shall also be taken to include any collection of machines that individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.

The example computer system 700 includes a processor 702 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), or both), a main memory 704 and a static memory 706, which communicate with each other via a bus 708. The computer system 700 may further include a video display unit 710 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a cathode ray tube (CRT)). The computer system 700 also includes an input device 712 (e.g., a keyboard), a cursor control device 714 (e.g., a mouse), a disk drive unit 716, a signal generation device 718 (e.g., a speaker) and a network interface device 720.

The disk drive unit 716 includes a machine-readable medium 722 on which is stored one or more sets of instructions (e.g., software 724) embodying any one or more of the methodologies or functions described herein. The instructions 724 may also reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory 704, the static memory 706, and/or within the processor 702 during execution thereof by the computer system 700. The main memory 704 and the processor 702 also may constitute machine-readable media. The instructions 724 may further be transmitted or received over a network 726 via the network interface device 720.

Applications that may include the apparatus and systems of various embodiments broadly include a variety of electronic and computer systems. Some embodiments implement functions in two or more specific interconnected hardware modules or devices with related control and data signals communicated between and through the modules, or as portions of an application-specific integrated circuit. Thus, the example system is applicable to software, firmware, and hardware implementations. In example embodiments, a computer system (e.g., a standalone, client or server computer system) configured by an application may constitute a “module” that is configured and operates to perform certain operations as described herein. In other embodiments, the “module” may be implemented mechanically or electronically. For example, a module may comprise dedicated circuitry or logic that is permanently configured (e.g., within a special-purpose processor) to perform certain operations. A module may also comprise programmable logic or circuitry (e.g., as encompassed within a general-purpose processor or other programmable processor) that is temporarily configured by software to perform certain operations. It will be appreciated that the decision to implement a module mechanically, in the dedicated and permanently configured circuitry, or in temporarily configured circuitry (e.g. configured by software) may be driven by cost and time considerations. Accordingly, the term “module” should be understood to encompass a tangible entity, be that an entity that is physically constructed, permanently configured (e.g., hardwired) or temporarily configured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a certain manner and/or to perform certain operations described herein. While the machine-readable medium 722 is shown in an example embodiment to be a single medium, the term “machine-readable medium” should be taken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) that store the one or more sets of instructions. The term “machine-readable medium” shall also be taken to include any medium that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying a set of instructions for execution by the machine and that cause the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies of the present description. The term “machine-readable medium” shall accordingly be taken to include, but not be limited to, solid-state memories, optical and magnetic media, and carrier wave signals. As noted, the software may be transmitted over a network using a transmission medium. The term “transmission medium” shall be taken to include any medium that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying instructions for transmission to and execution by the machine, and includes digital or analog communications signal or other intangible medium to facilitate transmission and communication of such software.

The illustrations of embodiments described herein are intended to provide a general understanding of the structure of various embodiments, and they are not intended to serve as a complete description of all the elements and features of apparatus and systems that might make use of the structures described herein. Many other embodiments will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reviewing the above description. Other embodiments may be utilized and derived therefrom, such that structural and logical substitutions and changes may be made without departing from the scope of this disclosure. The figures provided herein are merely representational and may not be drawn to scale. Certain proportions thereof may be exaggerated, while others may be minimized. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

Thus, a computer-implemented system and method for processing messages using a common interface platform supporting multiple pluggable data formats in a service-oriented pipeline architecture are disclosed. While the present invention has been described in terms of several example embodiments, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described, but can be practiced with modification and alteration within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. The description herein is thus to be regarded as illustrative instead of limiting. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving a message having a protocol-specific portion and a protocol-agnostic portion; activating one of a plurality of pluggable protocol processors compatible with the message to process the protocol-specific portion of the message using the activated pluggable protocol processor; processing, by use of a processor, the protocol-agnostic portion of the message using a message processing pipeline, the message processing pipeline including a plurality of stages for processing the protocol-agnostic portion of the message, the message processing pipeline processing the protocol-agnostic portion of the message independent from the processing of the protocol-specific portion of the message by the activated pluggable protocol processor; processing a serialization response or deserialization request, by use of a serialization/deserialization processor, to determine which one of a plurality of pluggable serializers or deserializers is compatible with the message, and to initiate the one of the plurality of pluggable serializers or deserializers compatible with the message to serialize or deserialize the message into a desired wire format or java object using a common interface regardless of a data format of the message.
 2. The method as claimed in claim 1 further including: processing the serialization response or deserialization request, by use of the serialization/deserialzation processor, to determine which of a plurality of pluggable data format parsers are compatible with the message, and to initiate the one of the plurality of pluggable data format parsers compatible with the message to parse the data format of the message.
 3. The method as claimed in claim 2 wherein the plurality of pluggable data format parsers includes at least one pluggable data format processor from the group consisting of: JavaScript Object Notation (JSON), Name Value (NV), Binary, and Extensible Markup Language (XML).
 4. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the plurality of stages of the message processing pipeline includes an authentication stage.
 5. The method as claimed in claim 1 including deserializing the message into a Java object expected by a service implementation.
 6. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the plurality of pluggable serializers or deserializers is not limited to JavaScript Object Notation (JSON), Name Value (NV), Binary, and Extensible Markup Language (XML) data formats, but includes other data formats.
 7. An apparatus comprising: a message processor to receive a message having a protocol-specific portion and a protocol-agnostic portion; a plurality of pluggable protocol processors wherein at least one of the plurality of pluggable protocol processors being compatible with the message to process the protocol-specific portion of the message; a message processing pipeline to process the protocol-agnostic portion of the message, the message processing pipeline including a plurality of stages for processing the protocol-agnostic portion of the message, the message processing pipeline processing the protocol-agnostic portion of the message independent from the processing of the protocol-specific portion of the message by a compatible one of the plurality of pluggable protocol processors; and a plurality of pluggable serializers or deserializers wherein at least one of the plurality of pluggable serializers or deserializers being compatible with the message; and a serialization/deserialization processor to receive a serialization response or deserialization request to serialize or deserialize the message, the serialization/deserialization processor to determine which one of a plurality of pluggable serializers or deserializers is compatible with the message, and to initiate the one of the plurality of pluggable serializers or deserializers compatible with the message to serialize or deserialize the message into a desired wire format or java object using a common interface regardless of a data format of the message.
 8. The apparatus as claimed in claim 7 further comprising a plurality of pluggable data format parsers wherein at least one of the pluggable data format parsers is compatible with the message, the serialization/deserialization processor to determine which of the plurality of pluggable data format parsers is compatible with the message and to initiate the one of a plurality of pluggable data format parsers compatible with the message to parse the data format of the message.
 9. The apparatus as claimed in claim 8 wherein the plurality of pluggable data format parsers includes at least one pluggable data format processor from the group consisting of: JavaScript Object Notation (JSON), Name Value (NV), Binary, and Extensible Markup Language (XML).
 10. The apparatus as claimed in claim 7 wherein the plurality of stages of the message processing pipeline includes an authentication stage.
 11. The method as claimed in claim 7 including deserializing the message into a Java object expected by a service implementation.
 12. The method as claimed in claim 7 wherein the plurality of pluggable serializers or deserializers is not limited to JavaScript Object Notation (JSON), Name Value (NV), Binary, and Extensible Markup Language (XML) data formats, but includes other data formats.
 13. An article of manufacture comprising a machine-readable storage medium having machine executable instructions embedded thereon, which when executed by a machine, cause the machine to: receive a message having a protocol-specific portion and a protocol-agnostic portion; activate one of a plurality of pluggable protocol processors compatible with the message to process the protocol-specific portion of the message using the activated pluggable protocol processor; process, by use of a processor, the protocol-agnostic portion of the message using a message processing pipeline, the message processing pipeline including a plurality of stages for processing the protocol-agnostic portion of the message, the message processing pipeline processing the protocol-agnostic portion of the message independent from the processing of the protocol-specific portion of the message by the activated pluggable protocol processor: process a serialization response or deserialization request, by use of a serialization/deserialization processor, to determine which one of a plurality of pluggable serializers or deserializers is compatible with the message, and to initiate the one of the plurality of pluggable serializers or deserializers compatible with the message, to serialize or deserialize the message into a desired wire format or java object using a common interface regardless of a data format of the message.
 14. The article of manufacture as claimed in claim 13 being further configured to: process the serialization response or deserialization request, by use of the serialization/deserialization processor, to determine which of a plurality of pluggable data format parsers are compatible with the message, and to initiate the one of the plurality of pluggable data format parsers compatible with the message to parse the data format of the message.
 15. The article of manufacture as claimed in claim 14 wherein the plurality of pluggable data format parsers includes at least one pluggable data format processor from the group consisting of: JavaScript Object Notation (JSON), Name Value (NV), Binary, and Extensible Markup Language (XML).
 16. The article of manufacture as claimed in claim 13 wherein the plurality of stages of the message processing pipeline includes an authentication stage.
 17. The article of manufacture as claimed in claim 13 being further configured to deserialize the message into a Java object expected by a service implementation.
 18. The article of manufacture as claimed in claim 13 wherein the plurality of pluggable serializers or deserializers is not limited to JavaScript Object Notation (JSON), Name Value (NV), Binary, and Extensible Markup Language (XML) data formats, but includes other data formats. 